Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Muscat: Continuing on its remarkable growth trajectory, Octal, the world’s leading supplier of clear rigid packaging materials, is enjoying impressive success in its PET resin business, reporting an increase of 500 new customers globally in the last three years.
Now a major supplier to most international brands and with the highest market share in the Middle East / GCC Region, the Salalah-based manufacturer has quickly become a formidable force, continuing to position the Sultanate as a hub for the global PET industry.
“We are committed to creating long-term value for Oman that extends beyond diversification,” said Prashant Boloor, Senior Sales Director - PET Resin at Octal. "The quality and reliability of our products have earned us a solid reputation and increased our position with the biggest brands in the world, which we now count amongst our customers. This is a remarkable achievement towards serving the growing global demand for high-performing PET resin and establishing Octal’s footprint, which now covers more than 75 countries. This has helped us position the Sultanate at the forefront of the manufacturing industry, and as a hub of excellence for knowledge transfer and innovative technology in sustainable and environmentally-responsible rigid packaging solutions.”
With a total annual capacity of almost one million metric tons of bottle grade PET resin, Octal is the only company in the world with a fully-integrated packaging system from raw material to finished product. Suitable for a variety of applications including water, carbonated soft drinks, edible oil and pharmaceutical containers, the resin is designed and engineered to provide high dimensional strength and excellent mechanical properties, including lightness, strength, transparency and recyclability. Focused on environmental sustainability, the company’s unique manufacturing process eliminates an entire step from the recognised standard, reducing electricity requirements and giving it a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to other PET sheet and resin products.
Boloor continued, “We place a lot of importance in designing value-added solutions for our customers, and our resin is preferred by most converters and brands because it provides excellent visual and mechanical properties along with long-term savings to operational costs. Our products have a lower carbon footprint and lower energy demands in downstream conversion compared to competing resins, and we provide a reliable and flexible supply, which sets us apart from other manufacturers. This customer-centric focus has helped us retain business and build a bigger base, and we’re looking forward to evolving those partnerships for future growth.”
The PET manufacturer credits its global supply chain with keeping customer commitments and raw material sourcing while maintaining a competitive advantage. Situated closed to the Port of Salalah, Octal can deliver by sea and other multi-modal options, including trucks in the region and door-delivery in US markets. Even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to place a substantial burden on international supply chains, Octal’s short ‘Order Booking to Shipment’ cycle, and ability to move large volumes of resin to major global ports with reliable transit times, has supported customers in managing inventories at lower levels.
From a single PET resin and sheet production plant in Salalah in 2006, Octal has emerged as a globally recognised industry leader with a reach that extends to over 75 countries worldwide. Aside from its main plant, which is located close to the Port of Salalah, one of the busiest transshipment ports in the world, the company operates plants in Saudi Arabia and Ohio, US. With a workforce of more than 700 people, Octal produces close to one million tonnes of PET resin, DPET, APET and RPET sheet, and PET packages per year.
